Reviews by BreakfastStout:

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On tap at Cole's in Buffalo,came to the table in a standard pint glass a deep clear mahogany brown with a thinner slight off white head,the coffee is light in the nose with hints of brown sugar and molasses.Well rounded flavors starting with a little molasses-like sweetness and sweet dough the coffee is reserved a big leafy presence wich isnt found in many of the style comes through late.Its a coffee dopplebock but the coffee isnt overdone its nice and its very drinkable for the style no doubt.

Dark Horse's only publicly distributed lager... Interesting. With a name like Perkulator, how could I not pick this up? It pours a muddled, swampy looking brown and tan color. It is 100% opaque and has very small bits of sediment that suspend in the beer. The head is thin and light-tan in color; overall, a pretty ugly looking beer.

Incredibly roasty coffee beans plague the aroma. The beans smell strong, burnt, and pungent; very deep and obviously coffee-heavy. Unforauntely, there's not much else to be appreciated in the aroma, save for a very, very light caramel sweetness that is only noticed when the beer starts approaching room temp. This smells more like an actual bag of old, burnt coffee beans than a beer.

The taste isn't quite as heavily roasted as the aroma, though coffee beans are certainly at the forefront. The mild burnt coffee beans up front transfer slowly to a somewhat sweet and scarcely malty profile. Light caramel and toffee are noticed, though this beer still doesn't taste malty or sweet enough to be a true doppelbock.

The heavy roast induces a deep bitterness at first, but never gets too overpowering. What's throwing me off is a strange astringency and a weird tartness that comes about halfway through each sip. Slightly green apple-like in character, I'm thinking it's acetaldehyde. Not enough to make the beer awful, but enough to dock the taste a bit.

Thin bodied for a doppelbock, though I'm starting to realize that this beer really isn't all that "doppelbock-y" in really any facet, other than the fact that it uses lager yeast, which also goes unnoticed. Dry, slightly metallic, strange aftertaste that wears on the palate with time.

Very interesting beer all around, and really quite far from what I was expecting. I wanted a malty, sweet doppelbock with a nice, light coffee addition. It tastes more like straight up burnt coffee beans with almost no mention of doppelbock in the flavor or the aroma. It's not bad, but it's not something I would regularly reach for. Dark Horse should stick to ales.

Pours an amber-brown with red highlights and excellent clarity. There is about a half a finger of a creamy tan head with excellent retention. My bottle had some sediment in the bottle so handle it carefully if you want clear beer.

Wow, you smell the coffee before you've even poured this in the glass although it lean towards the wet grounds aroma. Behind that there is a moderate melanoidin and hint of carmel.

The taste is like coffee and bread crusts with some malt flavors of dark fruit. There is a decent amount of bitterness and a balance of moderate sweetness resulting in a semi dry beer. The crusty flavor lingers into the long finish along with a bit of alcohol warmth.

This is a full bodied beer with a moderately-low level of carbonation.

I love coffee almost as much as beer and this is good example however the wet coffee ground aroma detracts. The flavors really come together as it gets warmer.

It pours a slightly hazy mahogany with a 1 finger head that dies quite quickly. No lacing on the sides of the glass and the beer looks fairly lifeless in the glass.

The nose is immediately strong coffee. Upon deeper smelling and thought I conclude that the coffee, while strong, isn't really that great. The aroma is akin spent coffee grounds after they had sat all day in the coffee machine. You know what I'm talking about, you get up to make a pot in the morning and find that your wife, or more likely you left the old filter in there. It's not unpleasant by any means, but I'm well versed enough in coffee beers to now this isn't the best aroma.

Sadly that stale day old coffee ground type flavor comes through into the flavor. I really love coffee flavored beers and this one isn't doing it for me. It's fairly bitter with just this overwhelming old coffee taste. A positive about the flavor is that the finish has a nice malty sweetness that allows the bitterness to subside.

Mouthfeel is medium and carb level is right where I'd like it and within the style guidelines. Drinkability is average simply for the stale coffee taste. No alcohol flavor or aroma can be detected which is good.

Purchased at Ray's Liquors in Wauwatosa, WI. Pours a very dark brown with a thin, white head that quickly fades to nothing. Metallic coffee aroma with strong coffee flavor from start to finish. Some sweet malt flavor is slightly detectable. Mouthfeel is a bit thin. This is basically a chilled coffee with alcohol. Good thing I like iced coffee, or this would get a worse review. Bonus points for having the most "metal" beer label I've ever seen. m/

Pours into my glass a deep garnet color with brown accents and a solid half inch of light tan foam on top. Nearly opaque. Aromas start off with coffee grounds and chocolate accents. Sorta like opening one of those big cans of Folgers and taking a big whiff. Sweet caramel, somewhat bready malt appears underneath. A touch of nuttiness in the background. The coffee grounds lead the way.

The first sip brings a sweet bready, caramel infused malt upfront that carries in a big ground coffee flavor alongside notes of chocolate and an underlying nutty quality as well. Flows down with a bit of smoke and spiciness and finishes with a lingering sweetness and a coffee aftertaste.

Mouthfeel is on the lighter side of medium bodied with a good steady carbonation. Goes down fairly easy but it doesn't have the chewiness I was somewhat expecting. Overall, an interesting experiment of a beer, but nothing really ends up drawing me in. As far as coffee beers goes it's not my cup of tea.

I can dig this beer, wish the coffee flavor were a bit more pronounced and perhaps not as cooked but it did its job and did not distract from the rest of the beer. Most certainly going to come back to this beer again.

Taste: coffee and nut at the beginning and the end, sweet toasted malt in the body

Mouthfeel: medium bodied, medium carbonation, sweet

Overall: My biggest fear when drinking coffee beers is that it will feel like I am drinking a coffee with alcohol instead of tasting some beer. I am very pleased to say that Dark Horse does it right. Here the coffee accentuates the beer and gives the dopplebock style a different flair. The dopplebock side is very solid. The coffee is far from overpowering and it really works well here. This shoots up to be one of my favorite beers from the brewery because of that. Kudos to Dark Horse to a job well done. I will be picking more of this up.

The appearance is probably the best part of this bottle. nice reddish orange color with a small head. just coffee on the nose. coffee at first with the taste, then sweet. The aftertaste reminds me of a cherry blowpop. Unique flavor, but not very impressed. Once is enough for me.

Taste: Unique mix of coffee and a malty Doppelbock with caramel, cherry and other fruits. Light vanilla as well. Makes it taste more like flavored coffee. Some spicy noble hops on the finish, along with some lingering coffee. Slightly medicinal aftertaste.

Feel: Medium body with moderate carbonation. Off-dry finish.

Overall: Bonus points for the unique experience, but ultimately it comes across as flavored coffee with some out-of-place noble hops. I guess there is a reason most add coffee to Porters and Stouts.